OK I admit it. I am a book junkie. The house is full of books. Everywhere you look in our house is books. I love books. In recent years I have had a lot of fun with audio books.
So what IS an audio book? Typically this is a book that is narrated by either the author or a professional narrator. Then it can be delivered in numerous formats. It can be on anything from a cassette tape, CD, downloadable MP3, Kindle file or other types of media really. The point is that it is an audio format representation of the printed book.
It is because of my love of books and audio books that I started this site, AudioUpline.com. I wanted to make sure that you had access to CD, MP3 and Kindle versions of books. Audio books can make driving in the car much more enjoyable. Or you can load these onto your iPod or other MP3 player for user wherever you are. You can even use a portable CD player (Gasp!)
So what do you get when you purchase an audio book? Well that depends on what version you buy. First, be aware that there are “abridged” versions that do NOT include all the text in the book. If the whole thing fits on a single CD and is not a MP3 then you can bet it is abridged. Books that are not abridged often take 4-15 CDs. WOW! But just to make matters confusing abridged version may have several CDs too. Of course, all of this depends on the length of the book, the recording etc. A recent development is the use of DVDs instead of CDs. Keep in mind that DVDs hold the equivalent of several CDs so it may only take 1-3 DVDs to get an audio book.
Another thing that may be of interest to you, not that you can do anything about it, is whether or not the author himself actually reads the book instead of a narrator. I prefer the author himself to read the book. I feel it lets me connect with the author better. Often this is not the case. You just should look to know so that you will be informed. Better to know in advance and make the conscious decision than be surprised when the CDs come in.
Another personal preference of mine is to purchase the CDs and then rip the CD and put it into any other format I want. I can even make backup CDs if I want. I am not suggesting fraud here at all. I am suggesting using the CD as your master and creating any format you need with the product you purchased. Distribution of these files past your own use is against the law.
So how do I handle this? Often I make a copy of the CDs to take in the car. Then I will take any one of many different ripper programs and convert the red book audio files into MP3s. Then I can load this onto my iPod, laptop, computers and especially on my phone which I always have with me. Thank God for 32 GB cards. I try to make sure that no matter where I go, I have the files I want. OK I am a little obsessive! J
The bad news is that audio books on CD can be expensive because of the number of CDs used and the cost of the audio creation. Think narration costs, recording studio time, mastering and so on.
Again this is a good reason to shop here at Audio Upline. We can offer discount prices PLUS you will often find used copies in our auction listings.
Regardless, try audio books and see if you don’t enjoy them as much as I do.
Comments